Mark Schoenfeld’s story is a happy one. He was once on the street, but now is the applauded co-writer of book, music and lyrics of ‘Brooklyn, The Musical’, a successful, Broadway show. Described by one journalist as, “A full-throated rhythm-and-blues musical filled with roof-raising showstoppers and a super-abundance of talent”, the show is “on the list of the fall’s must-sees,” according to the New York Times.
Born in 1949 in Brooklyn, New York, Schoenfeld was always interested in music. As a child and teenager, he played the guitar and wrote some original pieces. He went to college in New Hampshire, staying there afterwards to get married. Working at odd jobs, he went around to clubs and bars to hear local performers. One night he listened to Barri McPherson. They developed a brief musical friendship and even made a tape together. In retrospect that tape could have been the beginning of a partnership, but they didn’t stay connected and lost touch with one another.
Around this time, things at home and work began to fall apart for Mark. He ended up getting divorced and becoming a street performer, first in New Hampshire and then in New York when he moved back. He lived on the street and made a little money now and then from his songs.
Unbelievably McPherson came upon him one day on a street corner in Brooklyn Heights, recognized his voice, and ultimately took him back to New Hampshire to live in her home. They began to work on music together again, this time more seriously. She played the piano and he the guitar. Several songs came together into a kind-of-story and eventually they inspired a Broadway director to take them on.
The rest – as they say – is history. They wrote a script, raised money, hired five actors, rehearsed and opened ‘Brooklyn, The Musical’ on October 21st on Broadway. Recently Audrey Hoffer, a reporter for Street Sense, interviewed Schoenfeld by telephone. He sounded rugged, down-to-earth and has a nice strong New York accent.
SS: Mark, hello. Where are you right now:
MS: I’m in my apartment on 47th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues. If I lean out the window at a sharp angle I can see the marquis of the Plymouth Theater where my musical is staged.
SS: Do you feel uncomfortable talking about your homeless past?
MS: No, not at all.
SS: So what is your story?
MS: I was never at the very bottom because I’m an artist and because I had some good friends. Art is seductive and people are usually willing to help out a singer or musician on the street so I always had a little money in my pocket even though I didn’t have a roof over my head. I also knew in the back of my mind that I could get a job in Wal-Mart, but I didn’t want to do that. I thought I was destined for something better.
SS: While you were on the street what thoughts ran through your head?
MS: I wondered how other people saw me and if they thought of me just as a loser.
SS: I’m reminded of the book “Some to Run With” by the Israeli author David Grossman about performing street children and in particular a 16-year-old girl singer. While singing she thinks about the gap between what she feels inside her soul and the way she looks to the crowd surrounding her. She knew she was a better person than she perceived them to think of her.
MS: I know exactly what you mean. People who have fallen to the ground still have stories to tell. They all have dreams and aspirations. And none of us on the outside has any idea what those people could become if just given a small chance.
SS: Well, Then, what words of inspiration can you those living on the street right now?
MS: There’s a line in one of the musical’s songs “I believe anything is possible.” Just because you’re in one situation now doesn’t mean you’ll be in that same situation in one year or five years. Many of us are only a paycheck away from homelessness and if there’s no net to catch you out you go into the street.
SS: Many of us, including your interviewer, feel uncomfortable approaching and engaging in conversation with a street person. Can you assuage our anxieties?
You need to feel their vibrations. Just as there are different kinds of engineers and authors and sales clerks there are different kinds of homeless people. If someone is warm and inviting with their eyes and smile you may want to talk to them. If you feel a stab of eeriness you should walk away. But most of the time when you give a homeless person some money they will be polite and welcoming.
SS: What should a city like Washington do to help its homeless citizens?
MS: What’s going on there and in our country is a real shame. And it’s not because of drugs or disease, which is what most people think. It’s our own government that’s at fault. I don’t put the blame on the backs of the Republicans but rather on all politicians. They’re not evil but the system they oversee is evil. The politicians just don’t care enough about the homeless and the rest of us don’t make them care. I went through the civil rights movement and Vietnam and I believe the greatest injustice is the homeless Vet. I wish Mother Theresa were alive today and working here.
SS: What do you do these days to help the homeless?
MS: I’ve brought in a few to see the show, one man twice. Every time I have loose change I put it in a cup and when the cup’s full I give the whole thing to a homeless person.
SS: Where do you want to go with the musical?
MS: I would love for there to be road shows in cities across the world, in Dallas, Los Angeles, Toronto, London. It’s not cost-prohibitive. We’re only a five-people case and six-member band. And I’d like to make the story into a movie. I’d also like to know what it’s like to be wealthy. Right now, I make a small living because the investors must be paid off first, but eventually…
SS: What will you do after you answer this last question?
MS: I’ll leave my apartment and walk over to the TKTS Booth on 47th Street and Broadway. I’ll walk up and down the line of people waiting to buy tickets for shows today and convince them to buy one for ‘Brooklyn.’ I’ll say I was once destitute and the show’s story is mine. And then I’ll add I know how hard they worked for their money and promise them it will be well spent on a ticket.
